GILDED IN VENGEANCE

After a brutal public betrayal, an 18-year-old girl with magical powers seeks revenge on her former best friend.

In late-19th-century New York City, Emmy Vallillo doesn’t have much, but she has her father, her dressmaker best friend, Grace Montgomery, and her magic—turning ordinary metals into gold. When the Society of the Charmed, a wealthy, secret group of magical people, invites Emmy and Grace to a debutante ball, Emmy thinks she’s made it: She’s found a way to study and grow her magic openly. Until, that is, she performs for the Society. Fool’s gold falls from her dress—a dress Grace gave her—and she’s accused of being a fraud. Suddenly, her powers are suppressed, she’s imprisoned, and her father is killed. Two years later, Emmy escapes, thanks to a fellow prisoner, wealthy Jack Fontaine, who was born into the Society. Like her, he has a score to settle with them: the death of his entire family. Jack needs Emmy’s magic, just as she needs his connections. Their hesitant alliance soon blooms into a complex relationship marked by love, fear, and desire. Smith effectively weaves in themes of friendship, loyalty, fate, and family. Jack and Emmy, who are cued white, are beautifully drawn characters, who show strength and love in their actions, even those driven by darker emotions. Minor characters play a significant role in bringing out the pair’s best, helping to create a world readers will want to revisit.

An exciting, emotional, twist-filled page-turner.